As we still had the car, we decided to go to the Everglades National Park today.

The park is 1.5 million acres that protect the southern 20% of the original Everglades, a network of wetlands and forest that contain the largest mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere – and the most important defence south Florida has against hurricanes and coastal erosion.  South Florida’s fresh water is also reliant on the Everglades with 80%  stored in the Biscayne aquifer and replenished by the parkland.  The biggest threat to the 9 distinct ecosystems within the Everglades is that 80% of that fresh water is diverted for human use. The main conservation effort is to reclaim the water and they are implementing a 36 year plan to reverse the water usage to 20% for humans and 80% for the land.We were surprised to find so little of it is the classic marsh like landscape, complete with its image of air boat tours and alligators (actually called freshwater sloughs and marl prairies).

We did find the mosquitoes though, and a picnic spot for the vultures.